Fire-shovel.



PATBNTED AUG. 18, 1903.

H. G. STIEFEL.

FIRE SHOVEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented August 18, 1903.

HENRY O. STIEFEL, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

FlRE-SHOVEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 736,798, dated August18, 1903. Application filed'May 9, 1902; Serial No. 106,504. (No motleldTo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. Srrnrnn, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Shovels, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inshovels, particularly that class which are adapted for household use andapplicable for use in one hand.

The invention has for its object to construct a shovel of this characterwith means to strengthen the shovel, and particularly at those pointswhere the same is weakest, and also to construct the shovel in such amanner that the same may be more easily inserted under coal, ashes, orthe like, or, in other words, be employed with less resistance beingoifered than is possible with the ordinary shovel of this nature.

My invention may also be designated and described as an attachment toshovels, inasmuch as the strengthening means may be attached to theordinary shovels and the latter may be altertered in construction so asto conform to my improvements in the body of the shovel proper.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and whereinlike numerals of reference will indicate like parts throughout bothviews, in which- Figure 1 is a detail perspective view of a shovelconstructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan viewthereof.

Shovels of this character, sometimes designated in the trade as smallhand-shovels, are ordinarily stamped from a single piece of suitablemetal and embody the shovel-body 1, with the integral handle 2 andcurved side walls 3. In accordance with my invention I construct the endl of the shovel-body at an angle approximately fifteen degrees in thepresent illustration, the corner 5 thus projecting some distance beyondthe corner 6 of the said shovel-body. By reason of the shovel having itsforward end out diagonally at an angle the point or corner 5 willreadily push its way .into and through the coal, ashes, or the like onwhich it is being used and oifering much less resistance than is thecase where the shovel is cut across the end in a straight line-that is,on a line that is at a direct right angle to each side edge of theshovelas in the usual construction.

In the manufacture of metal shovels of this character it is well knownthat the strain on the handle is principally at the point where it joinsthe shovel-body or in the bond 7 in the handle, which is made in orderthat the handle will lie in a plane above the shovelbody. One of theobjects of my invention is to strengthen this point in the shovel andalso to strengthen the shovel-body throughout. To this end I employ ametallic strengthening device, which may consist of a single piece ofwire 8, as shown in Fig. 1, or a flat metal strip 9, as shown in Fig. 2.In either construction the strip, whether of wire or flat metal,isdoubled, so as to form the two strands 10, which are securely riveted tothe handle on'the bend 7 of the latter, and the two legs or arms of thewire or strip are securely riveted to the body of the shovel on the facethereof, one leg or arm lying adjacent to'each side wall of theshovel-body. The wire or strip has its ends flattened down, as at 11, soas to offer little or no resistance as the shovel is being used, andthese flattened portions 11 serve to permit the secure riveting of thearms or legs at their ends. By this construction it will be observedthat a frame is practically provided which is rigidly secured to theshovel body and materially serves to strengthen the same, while theextending portion of this strengthening-frame imparts the necessary anddesired strength to the handle at the point where the same is required.

The strengthening frame, it will be observed, can be attached to theordinary stamped-metal shovel, and such shovel could also be altered asto conform tomy invention entire by cutting the end of the same at anangle, as shown in the illustration of my-invention. Thestrengthening-frame is riveted at such points as may be found desirableor necessary in order to securely fasten the same to the shovel-body andto the handle in the manner shown.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In shovels, ashovel-body, and a strengthening-frame formed of asingle piece of material riveted to the face of the shovel-body adjacentto the side walls, and doubled upon itself and riveted to the handle,substantially as described.

2. In shovels, the combination with the shovel-body, of a wirestrengthening-frame riveted to the upper face of the shovel-bodyadjacent to the side walls and extended onto the handle and rivetedthereto, substantially as described.

3. In shovels, a shovel-body, and a strengthening-frame comprising asingle strip of material shaped to form two parallel arms secured to theshovel-body adjacent the sides thereof and engaging said body throughouttheir length, substantially as described.

4. In shovels, a shovel-body, and a strengthening-frame comprising twoparallel arms engaging the upper face of the shovel body throughouttheir length and secured thereto, said arms having flattened forwardends, a part of said frame extending onto the handle and rivetedthereto, substantially as described.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a fireshovel comprising a shovelbody and handle made from one piece of material, the shovelbody havingits forward end cut at an angle extending in a straight line from oneside edge to the other side edge of the body, the said forward end ofthe shovel being acute to one side edge and obtuse to the other sideedge whereby the forward end of one side of the shovel-body lies in atransverse plane beyond the forward end of the other side.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a fireshovel comprising ashovel-body having its forward end out at an angle extending in astraight line from one side edge to the other side edge of the saidbody, the said forward end of the shovel being acute throughout thewidth of the shovel-body to one side of said body and obtuse throughoutthe width of the body to the other side of said body whereby the forwardend of one side of the shovelbody lies in a transverse plane beyond theforward end of the other side.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

HENRY C. STIEFEL.

Witnesses:

JOHN NOLAND, E. E. POTTER.

